Role of Informatics in Precision Medicine: Notes from Boston Healthcare Webinar: Can It Drive the Next Cost Efficiencies in Oncology Care?

Reporter: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.

Boston Healthcare sponsored a Webinar recently entitled ” Role of Informatics in Precision Medicine: Implications for Innovators”. The webinar focused on the different informatic needs along the Oncology Care value chain from drug discovery through clinicians, C-suite executives and payers. The presentation, by Joseph Ferrara and Mark Girardi, discussed the specific informatics needs and deficiencies experienced by all players in oncology care and how innovators in this space could create value. The final part of the webinar discussed artificial intelligence and the role in cancer informatics.

Below is the mp4 video and audio for this webinar. Notes on each of the slides with a few representative slides are also given below:

Please click below for the mp4 of the webinar:

worldwide oncology related care to increase by 40% in 2020

big movement to participatory care: moving decision making to the patient. Need for information

cost components focused on clinical action

use informatics before clinical stage might add value to cost chain

Key unmet needs from perspectives of different players in oncology care where informatics may help in decision making

Needs of Clinicians

– informatic needs for clinical enrollment

– informatic needs for obtaining drug access/newer therapies

2. Needs of C-suite/health system executives

– informatic needs to help focus of quality of care

– informatic needs to determine health outcomes/metrics

3. Needs of Payers

– informatic needs to determine quality metrics and managing costs

– informatics needs to form guidelines

– informatics needs to determine if biomarkers are used consistently and properly

– population level data analytics

What are the kind of value innovations that tech entrepreneurs need to create in this space? Two areas/problems need to be solved.

innovations in data depth and breadth

need to aggregate information to inform intervention

Different players in value chains have different data needs

Data Depth: Cumulative Understanding of disease

Data Depth: Cumulative number of oncology transactions

technology innovators rely on LEGACY businesses (those that already have technology) and these LEGACY businesses either have data breath or data depth BUT NOT BOTH; (IS THIS WHERE THE GREATEST VALUE CAN BE INNOVATED?)

NEED to provide ACTIONABLE as well as PHENOTYPIC/GENOTYPIC DATA

data depth more important in clinical setting as it drives solutions and cost effective interventions. For example Foundation Medicine, who supplies genotypic/phenotypic data for patient samples supplies high data depth

technologies are moving to data support

evidence will need to be tied to umbrella value propositions

Informatic solutions will have to prove outcome benefit

How will Machine Learning be involved in the healthcare value chain?

increased emphasis on real time datasets – CONSTANT UPDATES NEED TO OCCUR. THIS IS NOT HAPPENING BUT VALUED BY MANY PLAYERS IN THIS SPACE

Interoperability of DATABASES Important! Many Players in this space don’t understand the complexities integrating these datasets

Other Articles on this topic of healthcare informatics, value based oncology, and healthcare IT on this OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL include: